Officials optimistic that Towpath Trail work in Cleveland can begin in 2012

View full sizeJohn Kuntz / The Plain DealerOne barrier to completing the Towpath Trail is contamination in some areas of the former Harshaw Chemical property. The plant refined uranium for atomic bombs from 1944 until the late 1950s.Construction on the next segment of the Towpath Trail in Cleveland could start in two years.

But that segment, a 1.5-mile stretch linking a completed trail behind Steelyard Commons to Literary Road in Tremont, will be isolated and not connect to the main trail, which stretches south beyond Akron.

Ohio Canal Corridor director Tim Donovan outlined the future plans for the trail routes in a meeting Tuesday at the OLA/St. Joseph Center attended by more than 200 people.

View full sizeJohn Kuntz / PDTim Donovan, director of the Ohio Canal Corridor, in January points out how the towpath will run under the Harvard/Denison Bridge in Cleveland along the railroad tracks to connect one of the final legs of the trail.He said the biggest barrier to completing the final six miles of trail is contamination in some areas of the former Harshaw Chemical property off Harvard. The plant refined uranium for atomic bombs from 1944 until the late 1950s.

That section, a three-quarter mile stretch linking Harvard to the south entrance of the Steelyard Commons, was originally slated to start this year.

But the obstacles to completing the section from lower Harvard to Steelyard Commons are monumental, Donovan said.

"Between dealing with a steel mill, having two railroads to navigate around and the problems with Harshaw's property, we've had to come up with four different routes," he said.

The trail now ends at lower Harvard Avenue. The goal is to extend to the proposed Canal Basin Park in the Flats.

The 1.5-mile section through Tremont presents no real obstacles, Donovan said. CSX Railroad has property it does not need and all landowners have said they are ready to sell or donate land.

Because uranium spills contaminated part of the Harshaw property, engineers have had to configure two alternative routes around the property, which were on display Tuesday.

The first proposed route runs south along Harvard Avenue and will be elevated over slag pile and down to the Steelyard.

A second proposed route runs parallel with Jennings Road before reaching the Steelyard Commons.

"Are those the routes we really want?" Donovan asked. "The route over the slag pile must be 60 feet above it, and the cost will be $10 million-12 million to get people over that slag pile because people would otherwise get hit by slag on summer days."

Stanley Kosilesky, Cuyahoga County's chief deputy engineer, said Tuesday's meeting was in part to get public feedback, particularly from those living near the Towpath.

"We don't want to build a project the public won't use," he said. "It's not just about building an asphalt trail, either. We want that trail to tell stories and show off the history of Cleveland and the neighborhoods."

Kosilesky said once feedback is heard and the route from Steelyard Commons is finalized, planners can finish an environmental review which he hopes will be approved next spring. By mid 2012, he said they hope to award a construction contract. Work could be done in about two years.

Kosilesky said the trail from Literary into the Flats could start in 2013 and take about two years to build.

Richard Kerber, director of planning for the Cleveland Metroparks, which will maintain the trail once it's built, said the first stage will catch up quickly with the third stage once the route is laid out.

"Sure, we've hit some obstacles in the past," he said, "but you learn to either go over a wall or around it...and this is what we'll do," he said.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.